The Matrox G400 series is the first ever
graphics card to introduce hardware support for Microsoft's DirectX
- Environment-Mapped Bump Mapping.
Environment Mapped Bump Mapping is a DirectX 6 quality feature which will
be used to substantially increase the visual realism of 3D scenes. In
fact, 3D graphics hardware that supports this feature will be able to
render 3D scenes with more realism than was ever before possible on the
PC.

Environment Mapped Bump Mapping is
essentially a technique that allows a much higher level of detail to be
added to a 3D world than could be possible with texture- mapped polygons
alone. Fine details such as the pock- marked surface of bricks in a
dungeon and scratches on robots and tanks can be added with ease. Special
effects such as realistic water surfaces, heat shimmering off hot asphalt
on a summer day and air turbulence in flight simulators can also be
uniquely accomplished by using Environment Mapped Bump Mapping. This new
feature will prove to be as revolutionary as alpha blending in terms of
the creative effects that game developers will accomplish when given free
rein. With the advent of the Matrox G400 as the first chip to support
Environment Mapped Bump Mapping in hardware, game developers are quickly
pledging to add support for this feature into cutting-edge games that will
ship in 1999

Environment-Mapped Bump
Mapping

There is no doubt that
Environment-Mapped Bump Mapping is great to look at. But yet again there
is a performance hit whenever you use it - but if you are into image
quality instead of frame rates like I am, you'll love it.

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